Investigators arrested three people linked to the suspect in the failed Times Square bombing during raids on Thursday in suburbs of New York, Boston and Philadelphia, but officials said there was no new threat. The three arrested may have provided money to the accused bomber Faisal Shahzad, US Attorney General Eric Holder said. The Boston-area searches occurred at a house in Watertown, where two people were known to have been taken into custody, and at a gasoline station in affluent Brookline. Federal agents could be seen carrying boxes, envelopes and a crowbar out of the multifamily building in Watertown, a working-class town with a large Middle-Eastern community. Massachusetts authorities said the people had been under surveillance for some time but did not specify how long. “These are people who are connected to Mr. Shahzad, we're still trying to determine exactly what the nature of that connection was,” Holder told reporters in Washington. “There's at least a basis to believe that one of the things that they did was provide him with funds,” he said, calling the arrests a significant step. He said investigators were looking into whether those arrested knew what the money would be used for. “That's one of the things we're going to be trying to determine,” he said. A law enforcement source said the two people arrested near Boston were Pakistani. The third arrest occurred in South Portland, Maine, according to local media.
